


Ping Pong

by tighthae



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2020-03-13 08:17:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18937021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tighthae/pseuds/tighthae
Summary: If Dongmin was a super massive star Jinwoo was an unwilling occupant of his gravitational pull.





	Ping Pong

**Author's Note:**

> my annual jincha long fic that no one asks for? Aww thanks i shouldnt have and no this isnt proofread i will never in my life do that

“And that’s what’s so interesting about programming and coding. It’s essentially a universal language, you can make it say or do whatever you want and people will understand. That’s the beauty of it all. The ability to communicate with the masses with just a string of code.”

Professor Yeon was kind of infamous for his rants. The midterms were closing in fast and he was still talking about the beauty of technology and its applications as if the class were freshmen who had just read the syllabus. The course was pretty hands on so Jinwoo was kind of sympathetic towards the guy since he didn’t have to do much talking while, seemingly, being someone who is very adept it. 

His voice was fairly quiet, but that wasn’t a problem since the room was occupied by 22 students with the fire capacity being 48. Most of the rows were empty except the ones in the back for obvious reasons. Jinwoo preferred to sit front and center though, he could avoid conversation this way. He also had a lot of room to place his elbows since each desk was connected to each other to form a table that could host the last supper. 

The other reason Jinwoo sat in the front of the classroom was because he didn’t want to space out if Professor Yeon ever said something important on his rants. Like mentioning an important assignment due date or a project. It seemed like one of those indulgent rants today so he Jinwoo decided to turn his brain off. He did agree with Professor Yeon, though. It was kind of uncanny how he was able to put Jinwoo’s reason for choosing his major into words. Learning a language that wasn’t verbal but could still convey meaning was the most endearing thing to Jinwoo. 

Before he could dabble further into sentimentality, the door to the classroom swung open shattering the illusion. Jinwoo was exaggerating when he said swung, but the classroom was quiet excluding the professor who was still vomiting words saying something about the different applications of Ruby and Python. 

There were five rows of desks inside the classroom, Jinwoo sat in the front and the two rows in between him were almost vacant with the exception of one or two students. Majority of the class was seated in the back, so Jinwoo wanted to know why this boy made it his mission to beeline his way towards Jinwoo. Not to go passed him, not to sit a few desks down, but to sit right next to him. 

Jinwoo was ever so slightly irritated. The guy was seriously good looking, every time he walked in he got stares. Tall, nice hair, a killer smile, pretty eyes, good personality, soothing voice, and good fashion sense made him famous around the campus. Jinwoo didn’t know why he had taken this course. Jinwoo had skipped software engineering his freshman year and went head first into the university's coding boot camp until he realized that he needed this class to complete his major. Jinwoo knows he’s being shallow but going by stereotypes and relying on the status quo was a bad habit of his. Good looking people don’t care about software and you couldn’t change his mind.

“Did I miss anything?” He asked.

Jinwoo was kind of surprised that he had spoken to him. Going by experience and situational bias, good looking people don’t talk to people who aren’t good looking or not as good looking as them. It was a high school concept and Jinwoo was an adult in his mid 20s but he can't help but be bitter about it. “No.” Jinwoo felt like he didn’t have to explain since the professor was still talking about how he had left his wife to pursue his passion for creating software.

“He talks a lot for someone who should just be telling us what to do.”

Jinwoo didn’t expect for him to try and start a conversation. Say something interesting, say something interesting, say something interesting, say something interesting, he kept repeating to himself in his head. “Yea.” And he blew it.

For the rest of the class period, the two sat in awkward silence since neither of the two wanted to initiate a conversation after that and the worst thing about it was now his right elbow had no place to rest. Jinwoo hoped the guy learned his lesson and never sat by him again. Sitting by people who are popular made him anxious and he couldn’t focus on his work without thinking of some scenario where he gets made fun of for not being able to carry out a conversation. 

As soon as class was finished Jinwoo bolted to the door and headed to the cafeteria. He couldn’t handle the first hand embarrassment and made the decision to drop out of college and change his name so he would never have to face anyone attending the university ever again.

“You’re being dramatic.” 

“How much are you willing to let me borrow so I can legally change my name and have it recognized by the government?” Jinwoo asked, scrolling through all the legalities a Yahoo Ask answer had detailed. 

“Zero.” Seolhyun responded.

“Don’t be stingy. I’m in need.”

“I’m sure he already forgot about your four sentence conversation.” 

“You know, ever since you grew up and got pretty you forgot what it’s like to be unpopular. Maybe you should become less conventionally attractive to learn from your old self.” Jinwoo jeered.

“Anyway,” Seolhyun decided that the topic wasn’t worth spending anymore time on. “Teach me how to play that little game you like.”

“No.”

“You’re mean. I just want to impress a girl and she just so happens to be a girl who likes card games.”

“You’re on your own,” Jinwoo replied. “And we have to study anyway so stop stalling and let’s go before you disgrace your family.”

Jinwoo and Seolhyun picked up their lunch trays and placed them on top of the trash can. The two always made an odd pair when walking down the hallway. Seolhyun was just as tall as him and she always wore heels just to spite him. Seolhyun had been blessed by a god for doing a good deed in her past life because as soon as she hit puberty she had instantly become pretty and it didn’t stop once they got into university. She had long legs, slim waist, a pretty face, and nice skin while Jinwoo was basically the opposite. He secretly hopes that since she peaked early that she would fall just as soon. But, she was his best friend and he loved her. He also knew all her secrets so she couldn’t escape.

“Do you think I could date someone like you?” Seolhyun asked. “The girl acts a lot like you but I can’t stand you. So, I’m just wondering.”

“Do you think she could date someone like you?”

“Oh my god, you’re still in high school and it’s so annoying get over it.”

“I’m not asking what you think I’m asking, asshole,” Jinwoo acted. “I’m just being honest. What if you’re not compatible then what are you gonna do?”

“Well, we could have one thing in common. If you weren’t so mean you would help me out, wouldn’t you?”

“I’ll teach you the basics and that’s it, okay? You can just look up tutorials online the game isn’t unpopular you’re just not the target audience.”

Seolhyun placed her arm on Jinwoo’s shoulder and pulled him close. “There you go, giving into sympathy. That’s the Jinwoo I like.”

“I’m human.” Jinwoo mumbled.

Seolhyun and Jinwoo made small talk as they walked through the hallway. Despite being polar opposite, Seolhyun was easy to talk to since she was a people person. Jinwoo could be interesting as long as he was comfortable. Well, that’s what he likes to think. Next to the entrance of the library, was a giant display case. Like any other display case at a university, it held trophies, medals, and pictures of students or alumni shaking hands with important figures. One picture in particular caught his eye. Jinwoo stopped in his tracks, causing Seolhyun to stumble a bit.

“What the hell?” Seolhyun complained, stabilizing herself.

“That’s him.” Jinwoo pointed to one of the picture frames taking up residence in the middle of the display case. 

“Who? The guy?” Seolhyun followed Jinwoo’s index finger. “Oh? Dongmin? He’s in your software engineering course?”

“You know him?” Jinwoo asked, walking towards the case to get a closer look.

“I mean, I know of him,” Seolhyun shrugged. “He’s going into neurology. He did some kind of thesis on the brain or whatever and won a shit ton of awards. This old dude is the head of the hospital in the city and he personally wanted to congratulate him.” 

“Wow,” Jinwoo stared in disbelief and sighed. “Good looking and a prodigy. How old is he?”

“He’s two years younger than you.”

“I thought he’d be nineteen or something. It’s kind of unfair that his genes are so good.” 

“Yea, yea, life is unfair.” Seolhyun walked into the library.

They didn’t get very far into the study session with Seolhyun practically begging Jinwoo to teach her the basics of the game. He insisted that he didn’t have the materials to teach her right now, which was a lie. Seolhyun yanked his backpack from him and rummaged through it to find a deck of cards and mat to play the cards on.

“We went over the elements we have to build a deck. You can either build a deck with one single element with all the cards have the same element, a deck with two elements with cards that synergize with each other, or three which is the maximum.” Jinwoo began to sift through his deck of cards.

“Why can’t you make one with more than four elements?”

“Because that’s just how it is.”

“This game is already confusing.”

“Yea, well, I didn’t say it was going to be easy,” Jinwoo replied. “Anyway, when you build a deck you have to keep the element rule in mind and your deck has to have a win condition.”

“Don’t you just have to get me to zero health or whatever?”

“Yes, but there’s several ways I can do that. I can flood the board with a lot of creatures and eat your health away. I can go defensive and try to negate as much damage as possible until you run out of cards and I can chip your health down from there or you concede. I can have several cards that work together in a specific order than can kill you in one turn. There’s plenty of ways to win.”

“Sounds complicated.”

“You brought this upon yourself. It’s one thing to not know the basics of this specific game but it’s another to not know the basics of trading card games in general.” Jinwoo snapped.

“Yea, yea, keep going I’m absorbing all the knowledge.”

“Are you guys playing Planes?” A voice came from behind Jinwoo.

“Not really, he’s teaching me the basics cause I suck.” Seolhyun replied.

Jinwoo turned around to see the owner of the voice see it sounded faintly familiar. He must’ve done something in his past life since he doesn’t think anyone else on earth could have this much misfortune. There he was, Dongmin, in all his good looking glory standing before him. He looked like a model for some brand of overpriced backpacks with how he was standing, one strap on his shoulder and his free hand resting on his leg. 

Jinwoo quickly turned to Seolhyun and made a face signaling that they had to go. “Do you like this game?” Seolhyun asked. “Jinwoo loves it. He goes to tournaments on the weekends sometimes. He even won first place in a big one.”

Jinwoo wanted to sink into the ground and suffocate. No one knows about his hobbies except for his very small circle of friends and being a master at a card game isn’t the most amazing thing to brag about. 

“Really? I just started learning last week and I’m pretty bad. Can I join you guys?” 

“Sure, take a seat!” Seolhyun pointed to the open chair at the other end of the square table. “Once Jinwoo talks about something he likes there’s no stopping him.”

Jinwoo was sure his ears were red. “Well, I just explaining how to build decks. I don’t think you’ll pick up much here if you already started playing. I’m teaching her the bare bones basic things.”

“Well, I don’t know how to build decks. You can still teach me that.”

Jinwoo went over the basics with the two, teaching them a beginner deck that was based around flooding the board with smaller minions to overwhelm the opponent. As expected, Dongmin seemed to pick up on the concept really quickly. He seemed to have habit at looking someone straight into their eyes when they explain something which made Jinwoo fidget. The guy also seemed pretty fixated on being good at the game. He asked a lot of questions and when he got an answer he had a question about the answer. It was kind of exhausting.

“I’m done,” Seolhyun leaned back in her chair, letting hang on the back of the seat. “That was harder than studying. I don’t know why units who can’t fly can’t attack units who can, just throw your weapon!”

“Uh huh.” Jinwoo nodded, rubbing his temples. Between having to reiterate basic concepts to Seolhyun multiple times and having to explain everything in excruciating detail to Dongmin, Jinwoo had no time to breathe. 

“Anyway,” Seolhyun sat back up. “I’m going back to the dorm to eat a snack and head to bed. You can study or whatever.”

“I can’t even think straight right now,” Jinwoo said, packing everything up. “I’m gonna go irresponsibly use my meal card on more food.”

“I’ll come with you.” Dongmin spoke up.

Both Seolhyun and Jinwoo looked at him and then looked at each other. “Sounds good,” Seolhyun said. “Jinwoo doesn’t like eating by himself he was probably going to bully our junior, Sanha, into eating with him.” 

Jinwoo wanted to rip her hair right off her scalp but he also didn’t want to look like a maniac in front of the school’s posterboy for academic success, so he held back. Leaving the library, Seolhyun went opposite the way they came to get back to her dorm. This left Jinwoo and Dongmin to walk together in their second awkward silence for the day. Jinwoo felt out of place when walking besides his closest friend, he felt even more out of place walking next to a stranger who was equivalent to a celebrity. He also had no idea what to say. They could discuss what he just learn but Jinwoo knows he’d be annoying if that’s the only common interest between the two.

“When did you start playing?” He broke the ice.

Jinwoo was surprised that he asked something related to the game but they didn’t really have anything else to talk about so it’s not like this was strange. “In middle school, I played all throughout high school in a club and now I do tournaments and stuff like Seolhyun said.” 

“I think that’s really cool.” 

“I guess. I usually just go to events with a big prize pool or official ones because I need more for rent. Although, I haven’t been to one in awhile. The last one I went to, I came up with an off-meta counter to the actual meta. After I won, the entire community started using my deck because even if it was meant to counter a specific deck it was still good on its own. After that, the community kind of jokingly banned me from tournament entry since they don’t want another stale meta with only one type of deck,” Jinwoo realized he was rambling. “And I’m going off topic. Sorry.”

“No, keep going. It was interesting!”

“Uh, was it? I was just kind of going on a tangent. I don’t really have anything else to say.”

“It was still interesting. I don’t know what you were talking about but it’s cool when people have a passion and can talk about it.”

“I wouldn’t call it a passion, it’s just kind of a hobby I like a lot.”

“Either way, it’s cool. Having a passion is cool,” Dongmin reiterated. “Can I pay for your food?”

“Uh, why?” Jinwoo didn’t mean to sound creeped out, the statement came out of left field so his question went straight passed his mental filter. 

“As thanks for helping me out, it’s normal for people to do stuff like that. Right?” Dongmin flashed Jinwoo a smile and for some reason, in that moment, he would do anything for this man and saying no was no an option.

“I wouldn’t really know, but not using my meal card sounds nice. I’ll let you do it this one time.” Jinwoo hopes his ears weren’t red.

Jinwoo couldn’t help but make comparisons between himself and Dongmin. Jinwoo didn’t initiate any conversations over their food and Dongmin did most of the talking. He also seemed to have a lot of anecdotes. Jinwoo didn’t have many friends growing up so he doesn’t have many crazy stories to tell. Jinwoo also wasn’t a person who had so many accolades that he was able to share all of them and each of them in detail. Dongmin seemed to have plenty of anecdotes and achievements to share with Jinwoo would could only follow up with a one word response or a boring story when Dongmin wanted to know more about him. In the middle of their conversation, people would tap Dongmin on the shoulder or shout at him from across the mess hall and Dongmin would reciprocate their actions. Jinwoo couldn’t help but feel a little jealous, he wasn’t charismatic and didn’t have an aura that drew people in like Dongmin. Thinking about it made him kind of anxious.

In the middle of a story about Dongmin’s skiing trip to Vancouver, Jinwoo felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Jinwoo knew it was loud enough for Dongmin to here because he made a facial expression that gave Jinwoo the okay to check it. Unfortunately, it was a notification for a mobile game that reminded him it was time to spin the lucky wheel. It’s not like Dongmin knew that though. “Ah, sorry, it’s my friend. He needs help studying and he’s in danger of failing his midterm so I should really go,” Jinwoo put his phone in his pocket and began to pick up his tray. “Thank you for the meal, I owe you one.” 

“Then, give me your number.” Dongmin asked, surprisingly calm.

“Huh?” Jinwoo asked, dumbly. No one asks for his number and, including his family, he only had about thirteen contacts in his phone.

“So, I can contact you if I ever want to claim the favor.” 

“Oh, okay.” Jinwoo, reluctantly, gave Dongmin his phone. Dongmin texted himself on Jinwoo’s phone and gave it back to him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Dongmin replied while handing Jinwoo his phone and smiling his signature smile.

“Yea.” Was all Jinwoo could say. 

-

“This is the first time you’ve ever skipped class with me.” Sanha stated the obvious.

“Yea, well, I’m avoiding someone.”

Every Wednesday, Sanha skipped his first class to sit at a cafe off campus to stare at the barista that worked there. He always extended an invitation towards Jinwoo, which was always met with a no. Today was different though. Jinwoo didn’t want to see Dongmin today. After a good night’s sleep, Jinwoo had come to the conclusion that Dongmin was a weirdo. So, the only logical course of action was to ignore him. A day out of Dongmin’s peripheral vision would make him forget about Jinwoo and he could return his normal schedule.

“Who are you ignoring? You don’t have a lot of friends to ignore and I don’t think you’d want to anyway. With that attitude you’ll be friendless!”

Jinwoo raised his fist to hit Sanha who visibly flinched but laughed. “Do you know that guy Dongmin?”

“The really tall, handsome, guy that’s the poster boy for STEM?” 

“If that's how you see him then sure.” 

“You’re avoiding him? You know him? Are you sure you guys have interacted? I think you’re overthinking things. Just cause he glanced at you doesn’t mean he’s interested!” 

“That’s not what happened, you little shit. He’s in my software engineering class for some reason and he sat next to me yesterday when there were plenty of empty seats. He usually sits in the back with his friends anyway so it threw me off. And then he asked me to teach him how to play a game I was teaching Seolhyun how to play in the library. To top it off, he treated me to a meal after!”

Sanha looked confused. “You’re mad at him for being nice to you?”

“No! He’s weird.”

“Wow, no one interacts with you that often so when someone does they’re weird.”

“I hope you didn’t plan on being alive more after today.”

“I’m just saying!” Sanha defended himself. “He’s a cool dude! Everyone likes him. He has that feeling you, know? Where you feel welcomed when he talks to you. You’re the only one who thinks he’s weird for being nice. I’m sure that stuff comes naturally to him.”

“He asked for my number after.”

“So?”

“What do you mean ‘so’? Isn’t that, like, a big thing?”

“Did you say anything that made him want to ask?”

“Well, yea-”

“There’s your answer.”

Almost like some divine presence had heard them and decided to shift the faint of the universe, Jinwoo’s phone vibrated. Checking the lock screen, it was a text from the weirdo himself. 

“He just asked me if I’m okay. See!” Jinwoo showed Sanha.

“You’re the weird one. He’s just worried because after you guys ate you didn’t come to class. I think he’s worried you got food poisoning or something. You’re, seriously, overthinking.”

“What do I say?”

“Just lie.”

“You’re terrible.”

“You asked!”

“Can’t I just ignore him?”

“That’s the loser thing to do. I guess it suits you.”

“Fine! I’ll lie and say I didn’t feel good.”

“I should warn him not to be friends with you since you’re acting stupid.”

“Fuck off,” Jinwoo snapped. “Shouldn’t we order something? I don’t want to get kicked out for loitering.”

Sanha and Jinwoo both ordered a coffee with something small to eat and made small talk. Jinwoo thinks of Sanha like a little brother, someone he has to look after. Of course, Sanha finds that annoying but he can’t lie, Jinwoo gives off the lame, reliable, big brother vibe. Jinwoo also didn’t feel inadequate when talking to Sanha which was a plus.

“I don’t want to go to class today,” Sanha groaned as he stepped through the campus entrance. “Can we hang out at your apartment?”

“So you can laze around and trash it?” Jinwoo asked. “I don’t think so.”

“Jinwoo!” Sanha dragged out the ‘o’ and inflected the end of Jinwoo’s name like a baby while hugging him from behind. “Please!”

“I said no, you fucking baby.” Jinwoo struggled in Sanha’s grip since, like everybody else, he was taller.

“Why not? Do you hate me?” Sanha rested his chin on Jinwoo’s head and rubbed it into his scalp.

“Yes! Someone is gonna see us and get the wrong idea, so let go!” Sanha didn’t seem to care and continued to beg.

Jinwoo was too busy trying to free himself from Sanha’s grip to hear him. He also couldn’t help but hear his name be called by a certain someone.

“Jinwoo!” Dongmin called, his face fell when he saw Jinwoo try to break himself free from an intimate grip. “Is this guy bothering you?”

“No, he’s just being an idiot.” Jinwoo finally freed himself from Sanha’s grip and began to brush himself off.

“Well, are you feeling better?” Dongmin approached the two, closing the distance.

“Huh? Oh, yea!” Jinwoo laughed nervously. “I took a massive shit and I’m fine now.” Sanha tried to suppress a laugh but let some of it escape and Jinwoo hoped his face didn’t show that he was screaming internally.

“Really?” Dongmin couldn’t hide the amusement that spread across his face. “That’s good. I would’ve felt bad if I made you sick. I was about to go off campus to put some money in the bank. If you want you can come.”

“Sorry, but Jinwoo and I have a date.” Sanha said.

“A date?” Dongmin asked.

“Yea, we’re going to his apartment!”

“Just ignore him,” Jinwoo laughed out of nervousness again. “I have work soon so I can’t go with you or back to my apartment.”

“That’s okay then, see you!” Dongmin waved to the both of them and continued on his path.

“You’re right, I think he’s a weirdo.” Sanha commented.

“Oh, so, now he’s a weirdo?” Jinwoo raised an eyebrow.

“Isn’t it odd that someone wanted you to come with them to the bank? I think I see what you’re seeing now.” The tone of his voice sounded serious so it was difficult for Jinwoo to gauge his sincerity since Sanha was only ever serious for comedic effect. 

“Are you teasing me? This sounds like sarcasm. I hate you.” Jinwoo said and walked toward the library

Jinwoo spent most of his time in the library. He studied there, when he was bored he’d come to read a book, and he also worked there. His job was a simple cashier job in the school’s stationery shop. It was great since Jinwoo didn’t have to leave campus to go work and the hours were flexible with good enough pay to afford an apartment. 

“Hey, loser, print this.” Seolhyun held out her laptop with both hands with fifty cents on top.

“You know how to use the printer.”

“So? You’re not busy. Don’t be stingy.”

Jinwoo licked the inside of his mouth and snatched Seolhyun’s laptop from her hand and used the printer that was behind him. 

“I used your tips to impress Jimin,” Seolhyun said. “I think she’s super into me now.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You don’t have to teach me anymore.”

“Good, I don’t think I wanted to teach you anymore since you’re so incompetent.”

“Whatever,” Seolhyun rolled her eyes. “Are you gonna tell Dongmin?”

“Tell him what?” Jinwoo tapped on the printer, waiting for the essay to come out.

“He looked eager to learn. Who’s gonna teach him now?”

“I’m sure he could find some tutorials online, like I said.”

“I don’t know, man. He seemed super into you.”

“Into me how?”

“He was hanging on to your every word.”

“When your professor is giving you an important lesson about the fundamentals of something don’t you listen to them more intently than usual? Stop saying weird shit.”

“I’m just saying. I don’t think he’ll be too happy about it.”

“Yea, yea, whatever,” Jinwoo walked back to the counter to hand her the essay. “Now go play in a ditch or something.”

“You’re so rude for someone who doesn’t have a lot of options.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Jinwoo asked.

“It means whatever you want it to mean,” Seolhyun sifted through the papers. “Anyway, I won’t be eating lunch with you today so go bug Sanha.”

“Uh huh,” Jinwoo shooed her dismissively. “Please, go occupy yourself.”

Seolhyun stuck her tongue out at him and rounded the corner. Before completely leaving the premises, she made sure to say “Oh, hey Dongmin!” presumably, to punk Jinwoo out.

Apparently, it was more of a warning because not even a full three seconds later Dongmin in all his glory entered the shop.

“Jinwoo!” Dongmin smiled at him as he entered. “You work here?”

“Yea.” Jinwoo had no idea what else to say. 

“How long have you been working here?”

“It’ll be a year soon, I think.”

“So you’ve been working here a while, huh? How is it? The librarians have been asking me to work since they said I would help business.”

“Slow. Especially, right now. The only time people come in here is to print. Then they go back to studying for their other classes. Did you come here to print something?”

“No, I just happened to be passing by.”

“And decided to come into the stationary shop?” Jinwoo didn’t try to hide his puzzled expression. 

“Hmm,” Dongmin griped the straps of his back and pursed his lips. “To be honest, I came to see you. People in class told me that you work here so I already knew about it.”

“To see me?”

“Yea, you’re fun to talk to.”

“Are you okay?” Jinwoo asked.

“I’m perfectly fine.”

“Whatever you say,” Jinwoo didn’t let the suspicion leave his voice. “Seolhyun said she doesn’t want to learn how to play Planes anymore. I don’t know if you still want to learn the game or something.”

“It’s just gonna be the two of us?” Dongmin looked excited but Jinwoo has never been good at reading facial expressions.

“Yea? I don’t know anyone else on this entire campus that wants to learn about it.”

“Perfect,” Dongmin gave Jinwoo a smile and Jinwoo felt his suspicions leave his body. “Can you start teaching me more after midterms? I don’t think we’ll have time to do anything fun until the tests are over.”

“Sure, I guess.”

For the next few days, Jinwoo was consumed with studying. His days were filled with class attendance, work, and long nights at the library. He only had enough time to talk Dongmin during class and that’s the way he liked it. Naturally, Dongmin’s friend group had started looking increasingly annoyed at the fact that they got ditched for the twenty three year old that sat in the front of the class like a nerd. It became quite apparent that Dongmin was the glue holding the group together and Jinwoo couldn’t help but wonder if that was the same for all of his circles. 

When Dongmin was around people, they all gravitated towards him and clung to his every word. The jokes were all relayed at him so when he laughed everyone laughed. Instead of stories being told to the entire group, they were exclusively told to him. His approval and his validation seemed to be the most important thing and it made Jinwoo uneasy. Dongmin was way too charismatic and patient for his own good. Jinwoo still felt uncomfortable talking to him so he would keep his sentences short or keep them one word. Despite that, Dongmin continued the conversation to the best of his abilities despite having to work off of bread crumbs.

It’s not like Jinwoo didn’t want to talk at all. Whenever he made Dongmin smile or when Dongmin found an aspect of him interesting he couldn’t help but he, subconsciously, happy. It was weird. Dongmin had a way of naturally getting under Jinwoo’s skin but Jinwoo also wanted Dongmin to see him as equal. Was this some kind of human thing? Wanting to be recognized as the alpha male? Or, at least, being able to stand alongside him. Jinwoo didn’t know. It was already embarrassing enough that he felt his heart jump whenever Dongmin wanted him to elaborate on the most minor thing. He didn’t get to speak about his hobbies or interests a lot and Dongmin allowed him to do that. It was a nice change of pace but it felt like he was being kept on a leash.

Either way, Jinwoo found himself giving into Dongmin’s aura. Having a cool guy like him as a friend gave him bragging rights. He also had a nice speaking voice and seemed to have a lot of things to say. It was nice to have something to listen to when working on a program. Even if his some of his actions or mannerisms seemed odd, it wasn’t Jinwoo’s problem. He could see why he was so clearly like and who was he to judge someone. Right? At least, that’s what Jinwoo’s rationalization was.

“And that’s the groundwork to a control deck.” Jinwoo had effortless beat Dongmin in a match despite Dongmin knowing he didn’t stand a chance.

“That was fun. I like the fire in your eyes when you get competitive. It’s cute.”

That wasn’t the first time he had called him cute. Popular guys don’t seem to have boundaries or filters so Jinwoo let it slide. “Who knows, you could’ve still beat me if I missed played. I’m kind of beat, I think that’s all I can show you for today.”

“That’s fine. How did your midterms go, by the way?”

“Fine I think. I don’t know. I studied hard though so I think that can count for something. What about you?” Jinwoo learned that asking the same questions Dongmin had asked him would open up doors to multiple conversational topics.

“Same for me. I got a lot of hands on training at the hospital this semester and I think that helped me.”

“When did you dream of studying the brain and all that stuff?” Jinwoo wanted to open a two way discussion where he wants left agreeing or occasionally acknowledging the story.

Dongmin paused for a moment, looking for the words to say. “I wouldn’t say it’s a personal dream or anything,” Dongmin pauses again. “It would make a decent paying job.”

Something was clearly off about the statement but Jinwoo wasn’t the type to pry. Discussion closed. “Yea, looking around someone’s head does seem to pay a lot these days.”

Dongmin let out a small laugh, Jinwoo could never tell if there were polite laughs or genuine. “Are you gonna go to the midterm party?”

“Midterm party?” Jinwoo echoed. “What party?”

“You don’t know what it is? How long have you been going here?”

“Well,” Jinwoo did the math in his head for a moment. “I did one entire year when I was eighteen and got sick of it then picked it up again when I was twenty one. That’s why I’m twenty three and in the same year as you.”

“Hmm,” Dongmin thought. “Well, our class has been throwing a party a few days after midterm tests. Have you never been invited?”

Jinwoo felt a little hurt, people could’ve at least told him about this out of obligation. “No, I’m not really close with anyone in our year. It’s fine, though. I don’t think they wanna party with someone with a two year age gap.”

“A two year age gap isn’t that big. You should come.”

“You’d be surprised by how wrong you are. I don’t think I’d fit in anyway.”

“If you don’t go, I won’t either.”

Jinwoo gave him a small smile, it was nice of him to show sympathy. “You should go. You’ve already been going, it would be shady if you didn’t. I’m sure the girls will be happy that you went.”

Dongmin rested his head in his hand and sighed, turning right he spoke. “If you’re not there there’s not point in going.” Is what it sounded like.

“What was that?” Jinwoo didn’t catch what he said.

“Nothing, just thinking out loud,” Dongmin returned his the smile. “I gotta get going, but this was fun. We should schedule this specific time to be our learning sessions.”

“Yea, that’s fine.”

-

Dongmin and Jinwoo felt into each other’s orbits. Or, more precisely, Jinwoo fell into his. Once midterms were over, Dongmin and Jinwoo always met every Wednesday in the library so Jinwoo could teach him a new skill. It was a nice routine. Despite falling into each other’s step, Jinwoo still felt a bit awkward. As their relationship progressed the difference between them became glaringly obvious. Even more obvious than they were before. Jinwoo and Dongmin were polar opposites.

The common denominator between the two was the card game. It’s what was holding the relationship up. Other than that, they didn’t have anything in common. Jinwoo liked reading, listening to music, playing video games, and solitude. He wouldn’t say he’s introverted but he didn’t need the company or help of other people to do the things he liked. That’s the way it’s always been and that’s what he’s used to. It didn’t bother him that much. Well, he thought it didn’t. When his personal dynamics are juxtaposed with Dongmin’s it just looks a little sad.

Dongmin liked nights out on the town, adventures in the day time, long talks on the phone, and just liked talking in general. Whatever Dongmin wanted to do needed another sentient being to make it better. The more people there were, the more fun the activity became. Jinwoo couldn’t help but feel bad for himself when Dongmin would talk about some crazy thing that happened to his friend while hammered and Jinwoo could only follow up with the fact that he and his raid party couldn’t finish one particular boss. It was a bit discouraging. Jinwoo wanted to get close to him but it seemed like every time he tried to close the gap the chasm would widen.

“Do you wanna hang out on Christmas?” Dongmin ask.

“On Christmas?”

“Do you have plans?”

“Well, no. I just thought that you would have a group of friends to hang out with. Your family won’t mind if you do something without them?”

“I mean, Christmas with the family is for little kids now. My family hosts regular family reunions so it’s not like I don’t see my family at all.” 

“I guess that makes sense.”

“What about you?”

“My family live out of the province and I’m a broke college student working in a stationary store on campus. My parents won’t pay for my flight and neither will I. All my friends are probably going home though. I’d prefer to stay home where it’s warm but I don’t wanna leave you hanging either if you want to go do something.” Jinwoo was pouring a bit and tapping his fingers on the table. 

“Cute,” Dongmin mumbled. “Is there anything you want to do specifically?”

“Did you call me cute?”

“Yes. That’s besides the point.”

“You’re handsome.”

Dongmin looked visibly surprised. “What?”

“You’re handsome! Don’t act like you don’t know. You have a mirror in your dorm that you walk by, I bet. So don’t pretend like you aren’t super good looking.”

“Knowing It is one thing but hearing it is kind of embarrassing.”

“Let’s go to an arcade.” Jinwoo got the subject back on track before it got weird.

“Arcade?”

“I haven’t been to one in awhile. Unless you have any other ideas. I don’t really have anything in mind.” 

“I don’t. I’ve never been to an arcade before it sounds fun.”

Jinwoo and Dongmin both said their goodbyes and Jinwoo decided to meet Seolhyun in the mess hall. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t a tad bit excited. He also would be able to show Dongmin a cool side of himself that he couldn’t show conventionally. It was a win-win for him.

“So you scored a date with him?”

“It’s not a date! We’re going because we both don’t have anything to do.” Jinwoo wanted to stab her with his spoon.

“You really think he has nowhere to be on Christmas? You think he has no one to hang out with? Like I said, I think there’s something there you’re not seeing.”

“He implied that Christmas with his family is boring.”

“Well, his friends? What about them?”

“I didn’t ask him! He said he wanted to hang out with me so I accepted don’t say weird shit.”

“Why are you getting so defensive? Is it really a date?”

“A date?” Sanha asked, taking a seat next to Seolhyun.

“Dongmin and Jinwoo are hanging out on Christmas.” Seolhyun said.

“Don’t sound like you’re hurt! Both of you are ditching me. Myungjun, Bin, and Minhyuk are also going home for the holidays. I’m sorry for not being able to afford a plane ticket.”

“Use this an opportunity to get close to him,” Seolhyun continued. “You say you’re awkward or whatever, this could bridge the gap. Just saying. He seems pretty keen on being your friend.”

“Like I said, he’s weird,” Sanha added. “You said he was weird. Did you change your mind?”

“Not exactly,” Jinwoo paused. “He still makes me feel, slightly, uncomfortable. That’s it. But I feel like that’s normal for me? Aren’t I always uncomfortable with new people? It seems unfair that I don’t give him a chance.”

“You’re rationalizing it,” Sanha pointed out. “You don’t have good control over yourself. I think you should stay away from him.”

“You told me a few weeks ago he was a nice guy. What happened to that?”

“I can change my mind. I started to see what you saw! Just a few weeks ago you were calling him a weirdo and now you want to be friends with him. Sounds fishy to me. Is he threatening you?”

“He’s not threatening me. I just think it’s weird from him to be friends with me. I think I can get over it though. Also, he likes the game I like and that’s a rare occurrence. I can’t let him slip by so easily despite our differences.”

“Whatever you say.” Sanha mumbled, he looked upset.

In the following weeks, everything began to slow down. People were packing to go home or just stay in the dorms and prepare for next semester. Jinwoo didn’t have any classes so his days consisted of lazing around at home and working until the school closed. Lucky for him, his parents promised to send him some cash during the break so he wouldn’t starve or end up homeless. Unfortunately for him, that means he’d also have to sacrifice food or heat. Being warm was nice but Jinwoo found that living was a lot nicer.

Winter was usually boring. Jinwoo stayed in the city and all of his friends went home. Usually, this the time of year he would attend tournaments but all the qualifiers weren’t local this year so he had to miss out on it. So, in short, the winter break was very uneventful. The only event he had scheduled was to hang out on Christmas Day with Dongmin. Jinwoo didn’t know why he was looking forward to it. It must’ve had something to do with the lack of stimulation. To occupy himself, he wrote down things to say and interesting things to respond with since they would be together all day. Call it pathetic, but Jinwoo knew he wouldn’t be able to think of anything off the top of his head if Dongmin asked him anymore questions. Jinwoo’s plan was to steer the conversation in his favor so he wouldn’t have to hear Dongmin talk about how he got experience brain tumor surgery first hand.

It was the perfect plan. On paper. As soon as Jinwoo stood at the specified meeting place, he began to get clammy. He chose an ugly, heavy, barf green, jacket so he wouldn’t stand out. He began to doubt himself as he stood in the plaza. Wouldn’t an ugly green color make him stand out? Jinwoo had also completely forgot that he was going to be standing next to someone who could make a garbage bag look like casual wear and the self consciousness started kicking in. 

“Jinwoo!” Snapping out of his thoughts, Jinwoo turned to the source of the voice. “I was gonna text you asking where you were then I saw you standing here.”

“Hey.” Jinwoo didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Ready to go?” Dongmin asked.

“Sure,” Jinwoo shrugged. “You’re not wearing gloves. Aren’t you cold?”

“A little.” Dongmin laughed and rubbed his hands together.

“Here,” Jinwoo took his hands from out of his coat pockets and grabbed both of Dongmin’s hands. “I’ll warm them up for you,” Jinwoo clasped both of Dongmin’s hands and rubbed his hands around them to generate some heat. Sanha never wore gloves so his brotherly instincts kicked in and he forgot who Dongmin was for a moment. Jinwoo noticed his hands were dainty and slender. They looked like they’ve never worked a day in their lives. The contrast between his pale hands Jinwoo’s red gloves was very pretty. Dongmin was very pretty. Jinwoo looked up to check to see Dongmin’s reaction. As soon as they made eye contact, Jinwoo suddenly remembered his identity. “Sorry!” Jinwoo reached in his pocket to grab the heat pack he had been massaging out of boredom. “Use this to keep the warmth going.” Jinwoo thought he was going insane. Dongmin looked a bit embarrassed when their eyes met, cheeks and ears tinged pink. But, it was a cold Christmas Day so Jinwoo didn’t entertain the idea.

“Do you know where the arcade is?” Dongmin asked.

“Of course I know where it is, I was the one who suggested it.” 

“Well, I guess it would be bad if you didn’t know the way.”

“It’s just up ahead,” Jinwoo pointed forward to arch lined with neon lights and the flashing lights from inside. “It’s not hard to miss.”

“This is seriously my first time going to an arcade.” 

“They’re kind of unpopular now. You haven’t been to one at all, though?”

“No, I was too busy studying.”

“You were one of those kids? I should’ve expected that. Well, as long as you took some breaks to have some fun.” 

“It’s not like I studied hard because I wanted to.” 

Jinwoo wasn’t sure how to respond to that statement. “You’re in college now. So, I guess it’s time to have fun? I don’t know much about partying but I can show you how to cheat the machine so we don’t have to buy a lot of coins. That’s my idea of a party.”

“Cheat?”

Jinwoo reached into this other pocket and took out his most prized possession. An arcade token attached with a microscopic hole that had string threaded through it. “This bad boy,” Jinwoo put it back in his pocket. “I found it in an arcade back home and it seems to work with most machines. It works with the ones here too I’ve tested it. All we have to do is buy some coins, use them up, and then just use this baby for as long as we like.”

Dongmin let out a laugh that sounded like it had been held in for decades.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. You’re just cute.”

Jinwoo felt his face turn hot against the cold air. “Whatever. Come on. It should be empty so I can show you some popular games.”

Jinwoo had more fun than he expected. After blowing through their coins on a crane machine, they decided to try out some video games. Dongmin was pretty bad at everything they did. It was nice. He couldn’t steer for his life while racing and his aiming skills were a lot worse. Jinwoo had to hard carry the zombie survival game so that Dongmin didn’t die. The illegal token became a godsend since Dongmin was adamant at trying games he sucked at over and over until he was somewhat decent. His efforts were endearing to say the least. 

Surprisingly, Dongmin was pretty strong. The only games he was good at were the ones that tested physical strength. Jinwoo was impressed, he’d never seen someone be so angry at an arcade punching bag or swing a rubber hammer with so much contempt. Dongmin also seemed to be, fiercely, competitive. The ice hockey match felt like a battle of life or death with him. As much fun as it was watching Dongmin losing his cool over getting beat, it was sad to think about how much he would’ve enjoyed this place if he was younger. Jinwoo vowed to make up Dongmin’s childhood of obsessive studying all in one day.

“Have you ever played this? They had the little mats and stuff a long time ago. We’ve got dance games now but I don’t think it’s the same without the arrows on the floor.” Jinwoo pointed to the dance game the arcade had.

“No, it always looked fun though. I saw people in videos go super fast.”

Teaching Dongmin how to move his legs around the dance floor was like teaching a baby bird how to fly. He was clumsy at first since his legs were long but he seemed to get the hang of it. He squinted at the screen and stopped the arrows he needed to hit. It was refreshing to see him stumble and move awkwardly when he always seemed so confident and sure of himself. It was cute.

“Did you have fun?” Jinwoo asked as they left. 

“Yea! That was amazing! It sucks we couldn’t win something from the claw machine though.”

“We can try again next time,” Jinwoo paused, realizing what he said. “Uh, well whenever.”

“So you’re saying there’s a next time?” Dongmin raised an eyebrow.

Jinwoo felt the butterflies free themselves from their cocoons inside his stomach. “I mean, if you want. It was more fun than I expected so I kind of just said it on instinct.” Jinwoo occupied himself by playing with his hands.

“Then, next time. What about New Years?”

“Don’t you have parties to go to? Since you’re popular and stuff.”

“It’s all the same. People get drunk, kiss, have sex, throw up, and use their state of mind to justify everything. This was a lot more fun.”

“I guess just spending time with one person is better than a crowd of noisy people. I didn’t think you’d drink though.”

“I’m a great drinker! It helps gets stuff off my mind.”

Jinwoo nodded in agreement. “I feel that.”

“Should we get a drink together then?”

Jinwoo wasn’t sure how comfortable he was drinking with someone he just met. It’s one thing to do it with people who know how you act in a drunken state, it’s another thing to drink with a guy you’re still wary about. “I’m kind of tired, so I don’t know.” Dongmin’s face fell. Jinwoo started to think that the small flashes of disappointment he saw on his face when Jinwoo rejected him wasn’t his imagination. But, it was already getting dark and Jinwoo had a train to catch if he didn’t want to walk home. 

“That’s okay,” Dongmin sighed. “Can I take you home at least?”

“Depends, where do you live.”

“Well, my family lives in one of the high rises near here.”

“Nope. I don’t want to inconvenience you.” Jinwoo also didn’t want to let Dongmin know where he lived.

“I would feel bad if something happened to you when I had the option to look out for you.”

Jinwoo couldn’t argue with that logic. “You can ride with me on the train but I don’t live far from the station so you don’t have to go that far.”

“Sounds good to me.”

The winter night was damp and harsh but Dongmin’s perfect skin absorbed the light of the street lamps. Jinwoo found himself admiring his facial features on their walk to the station. His eyes sparkled every time they step into any form of artificial light and his side profile looked like it belonged in a skin care advertisement. Jinwoo felt something boiling in his stomach, it was most likely jealousy. 

The train the two boarded was mostly empty, save for a few businessmen and people coming home from their jobs. Jinwoo and Dongmin took up an empty row of seats and sat in silence while the train moved through the tunnels. It was a bit awkward, but Jinwoo always seemed to find himself becoming stiff when he was in close proximity to Dongmin.

“I had fun.” He finally spoke.

“Me too,” Jinwoo agreed. “I’m surprised the arcade was even open on Christmas, I didn’t even think of that when I suggested it.”

“Good thing it wasn’t, I enjoyed it a lot. It was the first time going out with just one person. I’m usually with a group.”

The phrase going out made Jinwoo’s heart skip. “Well, I don’t go out at all, most of the time. So, yea, it was nice today.”

“I really like you, Jinwoo.” Dongmin didn’t follow up with a laugh or a smile.

Jinwoo felt his face get hot and he hoped his ears weren’t red. “I like you too. You’re a really cool guy.” Jinwoo didn’t dislike Dongmin, he definitely felt some comradery for the guy.

The two stayed silent for a few moments, Jinwoo let the sound of the train running over the tracks fill his ears. In his attempt to distract himself, Jinwoo felt a hand, a much bigger hand, being placed on top of his.

“I want to get to know you more. You’re so obviously tense when you’re with me. I want to be close enough to where you can address me like a friend. It would be nice if we can continue going at this pace,” Jinwoo felt Dongmin’s lace his fingers in between his. “I like you a lot.”

Jinwoo didn’t respond but he liked how big Dongmin’s hand was.

**Author's Note:**

> any criticism or validation is accepted in the comments


End file.
